The Apprentice candidate Bilyana Apostolova has been fired by Lord Sugar, digging her own grave in the boardroom when she failed to stop talking – ultimately losing out to Katie Wright and Gabrielle Omar.

Bilyana insisted she was ‘not embarrassed’ about being the first out the door and would leave holding her ‘head up high’.

The 25-year-old was brought into the boardroom alongside project manager Gabrielle Omar and the rather timid Katie Wright, who looked set to be fired before Apostolova proceeded to continue defending herself even after she had been told to stop.

Sugar did not take kindly to her torrent of words and appeared to change his mind at the last minute, sending the Bulgarian home.

Managing to make a profit of just £214.80 Sterling were sent to the café of misery to do some thinking, while the boys enjoyed art-themed cocktails back at the revamped Apprentice house.

The girls battle it out in the Apprentice boardroom (Picture: BBC)

Bilyana, who got herself ‘from a Communist block of flats in Bulgaria to the top of a skyscraper in the heart of the City of London’, said following her exit: ‘Having seen the episode I don’t feel embarrassed. I didn’t make a major mistake. I left there while holding my head up high… it’s arguable whether it was a very fair firing.

‘I am disappointed that I left so early on but I’m not embarrassed. Bringing attention to myself right at the end is something that I think pushed him [Lord Sugar] overboard.

‘In effect I think I fired myself. He was just about to fire Katie when I brought the attention to me. I made it quite easy for him to fire me.’